


Sands Of Time

by lyfthemuffinmoth



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Eyepocalypse, F/M, M/M, No beta we kayak like Tim, The Magnus Archives Season 5, Time Travel, although its kind of reverse time travel?, because there are so many of those already, for reasons i have yet to understand, helen gets bored and yeet tim and sasha into the future, homework what homework, i continue my tradition of hurting martin blackwood, i should be working on my other fics hhh, mmm i kinda dislike the way s5 basira is even though i understand why, mom said it was my turn to project on martin kartin blackwood, so she might not have a big role
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:48:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyfthemuffinmoth/pseuds/lyfthemuffinmoth
Summary: Jon gently squeezed Martin's hand. “You know what he means. Don't act like him.”“Don't act like who? I'm just acting like myself? Tim Stoker? The hot coworker you all have a crush on?”The woman nudged him. “I dunno, Tim, they seem pretty close already.”“Ah yeah, now that you point it out, Sash, you might be right.”Martin was pretty sure he audibly gasped.“S-Sasha?” he stammered.Or, Helen gets bored and yeets Tim and Sasha into Season Five
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Sasha James/Tim Stoker
Comments: 29
Kudos: 214





	1. Helen what the fuck

**Author's Note:**

> I know I should be working on other works right now but this wouldn't leave me alone so I hope you enjoy :)))
> 
> Title from Sands Of Time / The Golden Rule from Starkid's Twisted

Calm thoughts. Deep breaths. Calm thoughts.

You’ll be fine.

Trust Jon. Calm thoughts. Trust Jon.

Martin clenched his teeth as he tried not to panic, but in his defense it isn't easy to stay calm when a Hunt avatar is pressing his blade against your throat.

It’s even harder when someone is teasing said avatar.

Martin locked eyes with Jon, trying his best not to let his upcoming panic get to him. 

Jon just sent him a comforting look.

Martin bit his lip and started thinking.

He knew he was strong, but not as strong as Trevor. So that wasn’t an option. He doubted there would be anything that would jump up and give them a distraction Martin could work with, so that wouldn’t work either.

He didn’t like just having to wait, but he supposed he had to.

Then he heard a rustling noise. He felt the knife get closer to his throat and let out a startled gasp. 

Jon blinked a few times, his emerald eyes unfocussing for a second.

“Trevor. I assure you that is nothing you should worry about.”

Martin felt Trevor laugh behind him. 

“Yeah, sure, and I’m just supposed to believe you on your word? Nice try, Sims.”

Martin let his eyes go back to the rustling. He was starting to hear voices nearing them. As they got closer, Martin recognized them. Or at least one of them.

He almost instinctively took a step towards the noise only to realise, oh right, there was a knife up against his throat. 

Martin let out a startled sound of pain, trying to reach out to his injury, but failing. He felt Trevor still holding him tight.

Jon’s expression shifted from stoic to slightly concerned.

Trevor let out a laugh. “Now now, not that fast.” he said. Martin couldn’t see him, but he could hear the grin in his voice.

Martin felt a trickle of blood slowly go down his neck. “Jon.” he said. He looked into Jon’s eyes, trying to communicate something to him, ask how on earth they were going to get out of this, but Jon seemed lost in his own thoughts.

_“Jon.”_

Jon looked up at Martin. He opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by one of the voices that had gotten louder.

“Hello? Anyone? Disco Lady?” 

Martin knew that voice anywhere, but that was impossible.

Then he realised who he was talking about.

“Helen. What did you do?” he said, sounding hoarse. He was still bleeding from his neck after all.

Martin heard the creaking of a door. Behind him. He let out a small startled yelp as the blade left his neck and the pressure of Trevor Herbert left soon after. Martin turned around to face Helen, putting a hand on the cut on his throat. That was going to leave a lovely scar.

“Now Martin, don’t sound so disappointed. I did just rid you of that pesky Hunter, don’t you think you owe me a thank you?” 

Martin sighed. “Helen. What did you d-.”

Then, the voices made their way through the branches and Martin cut himself off.

“Jon- Jon, you see them too, right?” he said, his voice filled with disbelief. “I thought- I thought you killed the Not-Them.”

Jon looked just as baffled as Martin was. His eyes were wide and he didn’t say a word.

Martin walked over to him and linked their fingers. “Jon?” he said gently. That seemed to wake Jon out of his thoughts. They looked back to the two people standing in front of them.

The woman had dark skin, black curly hair and was a few inches taller than Jon. She was wearing a sweater with a button up underneath it and there was a pair of cateye glasses resting on her nose.

The man was wearing a pair of jeans and a button up filled with a bunch of Palm trees. He had dark hair and tan skin and was wearing a pair of paper clips as earrings.

“It's- I can't See them. Like, _See_ See.” Jon said.

Martin bit his lip and leaned closer against Jon. “That's not- Good.” he said, his voice still a little croaky.

The woman spoke up.

“Oh my god, Martin, you're bleeding.” she said, worry shimmering in her eyes.

The man next to her made his way over to them.

“Shit, Marto, what happened?”

Martin bit his lip. “Don't.” he said through gritted teeth. “Don't do that.”

The other raised an eyebrow. “Do what? Care about how your throat got slit somehow? Because I feel like that's important.”

Jon gently squeezed Martin's hand. “You know what he means. Don't act like him.”

“Don't act like who? I'm just acting like myself? Tim Stoker? The hot coworker you all have a crush on?”

The woman nudged him. “I dunno, Tim, they seem pretty close already.”

“Ah yeah, now that you point it out, Sash, you might be right.”

Martin was pretty sure he audibly gasped.

“S-Sasha?” he stammered.

She raised an eyebrow. “Yes? Are you sure you haven't lost too much blood, Martin? You're not making any sense.”

“Yeah, you're acting like it's weird that we're here, Marto.”

“That's because you're both dead, _Tim_.”

Martin looked back at Jon, who had just spoken up. “Can you do your whole thing? Only if you want, of course, but- Well, having two NotThems here isn't good, right?”

Jon looked back at Martin and then to ‘Tim' and 'Sasha'. “How'd you get here?” he questioned. It was pretty obvious to Martin that there was a heavy compulsion on every word.

“There was a yellow door and we decided to check it out. I don't know how long we walked but we eventually ended up here.” 'Tim' blurted out.

Martin turned back to Helen. “Helen, what the fuck?” he said.

Tim looked taken back almost. “Oh damn, Martin Blackwood cursing? Someone call the papers.”

Sasha elbowed him.

Helen chuckled. “As fun as the whole apocalypse is, you two were getting all 'moral and decent' and I thought it was boring. So I thought, why not spice it up a little?”

“So brought two NotThem here?” Jon asked with a groan.

Helen laughed. “Oh no no that's the fun part. They're the real deal! Just from way back. Isn't that fun?”

_Oh._

Martin looked back at Jon. “Is she-”

Jon looked speechless. “She's telling the truth.”

Martin took a deep breath. “Okay. Sure. Why not. Let's add this to the pile of saving the world.”

He felt his knees buckle a little.

Jon let out a small startled noise. “Woah, woah, careful.” he said, attempting to catch Martin. “We need to get you something to bandage you up with.”

Martin leaned into the embrace of Jon's arms. “Like what, Jon? We can't even die here.” he pointed out.

Martin felt another pair of arms around him. Tan strong arms that easily held him up. “Alright, Marto.” Tim said. "I have no clue what's going on, but I do know that Jon's scrawny arms aren't strong enough to hold you up.”

Martin let out a small laugh as Jon sputtered in protest.

“Yeah, you might be right about that.” he said as he let himself lean on Tim. It was harder than with Jon, since Tim was taller than him, but he managed alright.

“Jon, is there anywhere we can go?” he asked.

Jon's eyes lit up for a second before he looked back at Martin. “Yeah, follow me.” he said softly, starting to walk through the forest.

“I feel like we should talk about how Jon said we _died-_ ” Tim started.

Martin sighed. “Later Tim. Once we sit down, we'll explain.”

Tim sighed. “Alright, alright.”

After a while of walking, they reached a spot and Jon nodded. Tim carefully let Martin down so he could sit on the ground.

“Alright. Ask away I guess.” Martin questioned.

Sasha and Tim exchanged a look. “Why did Jon say we died?”

“Because you did. Where we come from anyways.” Jon said.

Martin moved over to him and linked their fingers together.

“What do you mean where we come from?”

“He means that you're in the future, silly.”

Martin almost jumped. “Jesus Christ, Helen-” he said, turning around to face her.

“Oh come on, Martin, can't I have a little fun?” she questioned.

Jon groaned. “Considering how you're the Distortion in a literal fear apocalypse, I doubt you're not having fun right now. I mean, you did just take Trevor.”

Helen tutted a little at him. “Yes, but it's all so _boring_ now. It's all familiar. You know that having the same meal everyday gets old, right Archivist?”

Martin sighed. “Helen. We're trying to have a conversation with some people here. Please go be bored somewhere else.”

Helen let out an offended noise. “Rude.” she said before closing the yellow door behind her.

They turned back to Sasha and Tim. 

“Like Helen said, you’re in the future. As much you can say that anyways. Time doesn’t really exist anymore.”

Tim raised an eyebrow.

“So what happened to Martin?”

Martin leaned slightly against Jon.

“Yeah I was going to ask- What _did_ happen there, Jon? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jon sighed. “I didn’t know he would go for you. And by the point I wanted to tell you, he was already in earshot and I couldn’t.”

“Still, it would’ve been nice to know that a Hunter was going to put a knife to my throat and threaten to kill me, Jon.”

“Yes, yes, I know. I’m sorry, Martin.”

“So does that answer your question?” Martin asked as he turned back to Tim and Sasha.

“I- I suppose- How far in the future are we?” Tim questioned.

“Four years? At least.” Martin said and Jon nodded.

“Alright. Well. What happened to us?” Sasha questioned. “You said we died. How?”

Martin and Jon shared a look.

“Prentiss attacked the Institute. You ended up in artifact storage and the NotThem replaced you. Took your skin, for lack of a better word. Pretended to be you for almost a year until Jon broke the table they were tied to and they tried to kill him. Didn’t succeed though.” Martin squeezed Jon’s hand. “Suppose what goes around, comes around.”

Jon laughed a little at that.

Martin opened his mouth to tell Tim, when he saw Tim looking pretty tense. He then realised the skin thing sounded pretty familiar to Tim.  
  
“Tim. You’re here now. Which means that you can stop the Circus before they do it.”

Tim tensed at the mention of the Circus. 

“You know about that then?”

Martin nodded. “Yeah-”

He took a breath. “Do you want me to tell you-”

Tim nodded. “Yeah alright, just get it over with.”

“You eh- Well, I suppose there isn’t really a great way to say this. You blew yourself up to take them down. The Circus. Succeeded, but it did cost you your life.”

They both looked a bit shaken up. 

Sasha took a deep breath. “What about you then? What happened to you?” she questioned, gesturing to their scars.

“Suppose I’ll go first since I have less-” Martin started. He looked himself over. 

“Well, the circles are from Prentiss’s worms. The white lock of hair is from the Lonely. This one on my eye is from when I tripped in Scotland and Jon absolutely freaked out.” Martin shot Jon a teasing grin. 

Jon nudged Martin. “Martin, you literally fainted onto a table and the glass in your glasses shattered.”

Martin laughed and leaned back against Jon with a small yawn. “Alright, fair point.”

“As for me-” Jon started. “Circles for Prentiss, like Martin’s. The burn on my hand came from shaking the hand on someone made out of burning wax. Scar on my throat is from when a Hunter almost killed me. Scar on my back is from losing two ribs. Scar on my arm is from Michael stabbing me with one of his fingers. Scar on my other arm is from Melanie stabbing me with a knife. And I think that’s it.”

Tim and Sasha looked caught off guard. 

“All of that in four years?”

Martin scoffed. “Yeah.” he muttered. He leaned closer against Jon and closed his eyes. He felt Jon shift slightly.

“Do you need to rest, Martin?” Jon questioned.

Martin hummed slightly in response.

Jon chuckled. He gently lifted Martin’s chin with his finger and pressed a soft and quick kiss to his lip. “Goodnight.” he said, letting go again.

Martin leaned his head back against Jon. “Night-” he muttered before he felt himself drift off.


	2. I'm sorry, J u r g e n       L e i t n e r ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first of all  
> holy shit the support this had gotten is massive and i had not seen it coming yall legit almost made my cry so big thanks for that  
> second, my apologies that its taking long for me to update, im really just posting these as a write them and sometimes i dont have the time or inspiration to write, so im sorry if it takes long

Martin woke up to the sound of voices. He stirred a little against Jon and the man seemed to interrupt his talking. 

“Martin?”

Martin slowly blinked his eyes. “Mmm hey Jon.” 

Jon smiled at him and handed him his glasses. “Good morning.” 

Martin slipped them on and sat up, running a hand through his hair. 

He looked around and spotted Tim and Sasha looking at him with a smile. “Good morning.” Sasha said. 

“How long have you been up?” Martin questioned.

“An hour? Maybe? Jon's been filling us in on the situation.”

Martin looked back at Jon. “What've you told them so far?” he questioned. 

“Entities, worms, Not-Sasha, Michael. I was just getting to Leitner. Figured it was smart to go chronologically.” Jon explained. 

Martin nodded. “Alright.”

Sasha raised an eyebrow. “I'm sorry, Leitner? As in Jurgen Leitner?” 

Martin sighed. “Yeah.”

“Oh Christ what happened?” 

“He used one of his books to stop Not-Sasha and he told me some things about the entities. Told me who murdered Gertrude.”

Tim looked at him. “Well then. Who was it?”

Martin let out a groan. “Elias.” he said, the resentment very audible in his voice. 

Sasha and Tim shared a look. “Okay okay so hold on. You’re saying that our boss murdered someone. Like actually shoot a gun and end someone.” Sasha said.

“Wouldn’t say some _one._ ” Martin muttered, emphasising the ‘one’.

“He killed multiple people?” Tim and Sasha said at the same time.

Jon sighed. “What Leitner said was a bit too much for me so I went to get some air. When I got back Leitner was dead and his blood was all over my office.”

“And then?”

“Then I was a fugitive from the police for a while. Wanted for a murder I hadn’t commited. Two murders technically.”

  
“That’s eh- That’s a lot.”

Martin couldn’t help but scoff. They weren’t even at the worser parts yet. He noticed the baffled expressions on Tim and Sasha's faces though, so he looked back up at Jon. 

“Maybe we should take a break. Tell them the rest later.” he suggested. 

“Yeah that might be a good idea.” Jon said. 

They both looked back at Tim and Sasha. “Do you guys have questions?”

“Well… Tim and I were wondering…”

“Are you two, like- a thing?” 

Martin and Jon looked at each other and burst into laughter. 

“I'm sorry I just- That's your question?” Martin said, catching his breath. 

“You didn't answer it.” Tim pointed out. 

Martin linked his fingers with Jon's. “We are.” he said softly. 

“Okay so what happened? No offense Martin, but you were kind of obvious. Jon though- Well, he was kind of an ass to you so what happened?”

Martin squeezed Jon's hand a little. He knew it was a sensitive subject for the other, even if Martin had told him he'd forgiven him many times. 

“I got over myself and realized that shoving people away didn't do anything.” Jon said, squeezing back. 

“So ehm- How long have you been together?”

“I- I guess I don't know- Time is weird here. But officially, not very long. Six months I would say? It's hard to guess.” Martin said. 

Jon nodded. “Yeah something like that.”

“So eh- Martin. I couldn't help but notice that ring on your hand.”

Martin flushed and looked down at the shiny ring around his finger. “Yeah- Pretty, isn't it?”

Jon chuckled. “Not as pretty as you.” he said. 

Wow. That was incredibly cliche and Martin knew it, but he still went red. 

Tim and Sasha just laughed. “That's- Wow, we're gonna have to get used to this, huh?” 

“Afraid so, Sasha. I'm never leaving Martin Alone again.”

Martin smiled and leaned against Jon. 

Tim looked back at them. “About that- You keep saying words with a weird emphasis. Like, See and Know and- and Alone just now.”

Martin tensed a little and Jon put his arm around him. “It's like- Entity related. See and Know for the eye and…” Jon trailed off. 

“And Alone for the Lonely.” Martin added quietly. He felt Jon absent-mindedly play with the white streak in Martin's hair. 

“Wait- You're an avatar too, Marto?” 

Martin sighed. “I mean- Sort of? I used to be one, I think-” 

“So what kind of spooky powers did you get?” Tim asked, wiggling his fingers a bit. 

“I could like- go invisible? Make sure I was somewhere other people weren't? It was complicated, I- I guess.”

Jon looked back at Martin. “Hey- You don't have to-” 

Martin shook his head. “No. No, I want to.” he said. 

“I'm assuming we're picking up the story again then?” Sasha questioned. 

Jon sighed. “Yeah. I suppose so.”

“So after Leitner I met a few avatars. Jude Perry. Avatar of the Desolation. Gave me this lovely burn-” he showed Tim and Sasha the palm of his right hand. “-because I was smart enough to shake the hand of someone made of burning hot wax.

“I also met Mike Crew. Vast Avatar. Made me feel like I was falling odd a cliff. Interesting experience, 10/10 would not recommend.”

Martin couldn't help but chuckle a little at the deadpan way Jon said that. 

“Daisy showed up. Killed Mike and dragged me out in the woods to kill me. Got this scar from her.” he said, gesturing to his throat. “Eventually her partner Basira came and convinced Daisy to let me go. Make me use my compulsion on Elias. 

“So we went back to the Institute. Confronted Elias. He confessed to the murders but made Basira sign a contract so Daisy would take him out. With the whole 'you can't quit the institute' and 'if you kill me you all die' thing.

“After that we just fell back into routine I suppose. Shortly afterwards I got kidnapped by Nikola Orsinov. Stranger Avatar.” Jon paused. 

“Part of the Circus.” he added carefully, looking up at Tim. The man tensed a little, but didn't give Jon any indication to stop, so Jon continued. 

“Eventually I wound up being saved by the Distortion. Michael at first. Eventually though, Helen showed up. Helen Richardson, but- Well you've seen her. She's just as distorted as Michael was.

“Brought me back to the Institute. I found a lead that brought me to America. Found Gerry Keay, one of Gertrude's all assistants. Told me Gertrude was going to blow up the Unknowing. The Stranger's Ritual.

“So we got ready for the Unknowing. Daisy, Basira, Tim and I were gonna go. Melanie and Martin would stay behind to-” Jon took a breath. “-to gather evidence against Elias to get him in jail. Out of our hair for a while. It was Martin's plan I might add.

“So we left for the Unknowing. Eventually we stopped it. Tim- He pressed the trigger button on the explosives. It- Well, it killed him. Daisy ended up in the coffin, though we thought she died at the time. I- I went into a coma. No vitals but still brain activity. Elias wound up in jail but- Well, I don't really think that's my story to tell.” Jon finished, looking back at Martin. 

Martin took a deep breath. “Right.” he muttered. “While Jon went to stop the Unknowing, me and Melanie stayed behind. The plan was-The plan was I distract Elias and Melanie would go into his office and find something we could use against him.

“I- Eh- Started burning statements. Elias wasn't very happy with it, as the statement were a big thing for the Eye and he's an Avatar of it. 

“So he walked in. Tried to get me to stop and when that didn't work, he-” Martin stopped. 

Jon squeezed his hand gently. “You don't have to say it if you don't want to.”

Martin took a breath. “No. No, I want to.” 

“Alright.” 

“Elias- He can do this thing where he can project things into your head. Other people's fear or pain or just- Things he knows will hurt you.

“He ehm- put something in mine. I'm not gonna say what it was, but- It wasn't pleasant. It hurt. But it worked. Melanie got some tapes and we got Elias arrested.

“Later I got the news that Tim was dead. And Daisy and probably Jon too. I wasn't- I was in a bad place. But still, I tried to continue. Visit Jon, hoping he'd wake up. Trying to move on. 

“And then my mother died and honestly- I didn't care anymore. It had been months and I had given up on Jon waking up so I- I went to Lukas. Elias had appointed him head of the Institute and he- Well, he'd said his door was always open. Ironic for an Avatar of Lonely really.”

Martin scoffed. 

“Guess I just started to hang out with him. Trying to figure out what his plan was. Did that for a long time and then… Jon woke up. Still kept my distance. Peter- Well, he could be quite threatening if he wanted to.

“Eventually I figured out his plan. He wanted me to kill Elias- Or well, his body anyways. Jonah Magnus body hopped apparently.”

Sasha made a startled noise. “I'm sorry Elias is actually Jonah Magnus? Y'know, the founder of the Institute?” 

Martin sighed. “Afraid so. Apparently no one noticed that Elias's eyes changed color when he got a promotion.”

He leaned back against Jon. 

“Anyways, I said no. Peter didn't like no so he- Threw me into the Forsaken. It was- yeah well, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, it was horrible. There was fog everywhere and there was no one there. It was- Well it was Lonely. I- I don't remember most of it, but according to Jon I was really out of it. Not acting like myself. 

“Jon came into the Lonely. Pulled me out, which I am still eternally grateful for.” He pressed a kiss to Jon's cheek and smiled. “Once we were out there- Really seeing each other for the first time in months- Well. Jon kissed me. I didn't stop him.”

Martin scoffed. 

“Suppose it's ironic. The Lonely of all things bringing us together.”

He leaned back against Jon, deciding that he would Jon tell the rest. Jon squeezed his hand and Martin squeezed back. 

“That's- God, Martin, I'm so sorry.” Sasha said. 

Martin smiled at her. “It's- It wasn't your fault, Sasha.”

Martin settled back against Jon. “Jon. Do you need to stop? Or can you tell the rest now?” 

Jon sighed. “I- No, no I can't. Besides, we should- We need to get moving soon.”

“But why though?”

Martin let out a startled yelp. 

“For the love of God, Helen, can you stop?” 

Helen laughed. “But it's so fun seeing you startle like that, Martin, you must admit.” 

Jon groaned. “What do you want, Helen.”

“Can’t I say hello to my dear friends?”

“We’re not your friends, Helen.”

Helen gasped, insulted. “Ouch, you wound me, Archivist.”

Martin sighed. “Now’s not a good time, Helen, can you come back later?”

Helen smiled. “See, Archivist, being polite gets you very far. I’ll check up on the happy friends later then. Bye bye, Jon.”

Jon sighed. “Bye, Helen.”

The two looked back to Tim and Sasha.  
  
“She- Well, don’t mind her, she just does that sometimes.” Martin sighed.

The two nodded. “Right. Right.” Tim said.

Suddenly, Jon’s eyes flashed an emerald green. Martin tensed. “Jon? Jon- What’s wrong, what do you See?”

“I- It’s- Someone’s coming, it’s-”

Jon was cut off by a familiar shape walking through the forest. Ripped jeans, dark tank top and tan skin. Oh and also a gun in her hands. A gun aimed directly at all four of them, seemingly shifting from being aimed at Jon to being aimed at Tim.

“Everyone hands up.” Basira Hussain comanded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank yall so much for reading!! i hope it wasnt too boring cause it was mostly explainaton of things yall already know but it just had to be done i guess  
> comments and kudos always make me big happy so please leave some :))
> 
> love y'all and stay safe <33

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, I have that scar that Martin has over his eye and I got it this Monday by fainting and falling into a table. Yes, I project on Martin, what are you gonna do about it?
> 
> As always, thanks a bunch for reading!!  
> Please leave me a comment or some kudos, they always make my day
> 
> Love you all and stay safe :)))


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